


Off the Ice

by CrystallineKai



Series: Paths Intertwine and Join [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Male Character, Developing Relationship, Eren Yeager Has Long Hair, Established Levi/Eren Yeager, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gay Male Character, Getting to Know Each Other, Ice Skating, Insecurity, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Older Eren Yeager, POV Eren Yeager, Prequel, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 04:43:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19900015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystallineKai/pseuds/CrystallineKai
Summary: Eren struggles to skate the way he wants, but thankfully, Levi is there to help him conquer that.





	Off the Ice

**Author's Note:**

> If you follow me on twitter, I mention my fic writing exploits sometimes. Most of the time I keep them under wraps because I wish to surprise people.....or try to. Lately, I have been sharing snippets of my fanfics as I work on them. And I'm glad a few people have taken interest. :)
> 
> This fanfic in particular is sort of a prequel, a snippet if you will, to the one I am working on. I haven't mentioned this prequel at all compared to the main fanfiction. It's inspired by Yuri on Ice and the Yuri on Ice AU ereri centered comic which I can't seem to find on tumblr, sadly. (trust me, I've been looking.) I've taken some creative liberties with everyone's ages in this fic and the main story and whatnot. I'm kind of following the yoi anime plot to an extent.
> 
> The prequel is a short one and I'll edit for mistakes I've missed later, but I hope you'll enjoy this small snippet into the world I hope to bring to you guys soon!
> 
> (Edit: I didn't mean to set the rating as "Mature" upon uploading. That was my mistake. 😅)

The scraping of the blades sounding throughout the rink was heard as the brunet glides, spins, and jumps to the soft music playing. He feels so good skating on his own, needing this time to think to himself about a multitude of things that happened in a span of the last few weeks. It all felt so surreal. Levi coming all the way from France to see him of all people. All because of a video of himself skating to Levi's routine Sasha and Connie had recorded of him then posted the video on YouTube.

Then Petra Ral showed up. When Eren saw the older skater interacting with the girl with more familiarity than he wanted to witness, he needed to get away. He had to because he also saw the first genuine smile from Levi in three weeks when Petra stole his attention for a couple of hours. Eren needed to think of what his feelings for Levi really are. Was it that of a coach and athlete? Or idol and fan? He wasn’t sure if they could be classified as friends despite getting to know each other a little bit. Well, not yet.

Levi had only been at Shiganshina for a miniscule amount of time and Eren was working to build up his muscle memory since he stopped skating for a long while. With the change his growth spurt brought him, Eren wasn't sure how to adapt to it as it wouldn't allow him to nail his jumps efficiently.

Part of his desire to at least try was because he desired to please Levi and wanting him to see him as something beautiful. Not the same beautiful Levi is, but at least a type of beautiful he would love for Levi to want. And only Levi. No other person ever made Eren feel the way this divine person has made him felt before. He was confused and kind of frightened about the sudden onslaught of intense feelings he was experiencing ever since the older man had arrived with the intent to coach him. It really wasn’t a dream...

The realization, he was falling hard for Levi. It was why he wanted to strive to do his best. Why he couldn’t deal with another person being reflected with interest in those gorgeous gray-blue eyes. It was long past the feelings of an obsessed fan, nearly worshipping the ground his idol walks on. Eren was definitely in love with the French athlete. Having him here in his small town and  _ actually _ staying in his house was definitely a dream come true. He was so happy he could combust. Not yet because the brunet wishes to train under Levi and possibly get closer.

All he knows about the man was publicly known to everyone else. Even the fact Levi was born into extremely dark, unfortunate circumstances which the man refused to disclose to the public. Eren wished to know more than the basics on the guarded Ackerman. What Levi does to unwind after the day is out, what music he likes to listen to, a favorite smell, what makes him a bit peeved…more than usual. Just everything the public doesn’t know.

And Eren wanted Levi to know  _ him _ as well. This man would be one of the few people Levi wants to see the real him. Raw and pure like the crisp air of a chilly autumn evening or a brand new textbook. This was something scary for him, but if it’s Levi, Eren would show him  _ everything. _

Eren found himself in the empty rink as Armin helped his grandfather close that and the adjoining ballet studio for the day. His best friend The brunet liked when the rink was empty. It gave him a chance to really let himself go, be as messy as he wanted to with his skating. He realized this when he was a kid under high pressure from his father to be perfect at skating.

The brunet glides across the ice to the music playing in his ear buds. It was a bittersweet song, though more depressing than bittersweet. Well, in his opinion. Still, he felt like it fit his current situation in a sense if one looked at the song in a different way. Eren liked the music a lot and he easily moves to the flow of the music, losing himself as the melody that filled his mind.

He vaguely felt a pair of eyes on him, but couldn’t bring himself to pay attention as he figured Armin was watching. Or maybe Mikasa followed him here too. Eren couldn’t bring himself to care. The music captured him, allowing him to use it as an extension of own body to move freely. He had trouble allowing himself to do that today which resulted in a frustrated Levi. It made Eren feel guilty he was wasting the older skater’s time with not being able to skate the way Levi told him to…

_ “It’s time to let yourself go, Eren.” _ Levi’s words rang in his head as he continued his impromptu routine.

There really wasn’t anything to it other than to loosen himself up and relax. It was when the song was a minute from reaching its crescendo when Eren’s body felt like it was really flowing with the music. Eren wished he could let himself relax around Levi, but the thought of disappointing the man he idolized for so long terrified him to the core. He wished he could skate something that Levi would be proud to see…as his coach and also fellow athlete.

The song finishes as he strikes a graceful finishing pose at the same time the song ends. At that moment, a single applause broke through the empty rink, startling him. He removes his ear buds and turns toward the source of the applause and noticed it was Levi.

Eren blanched slightly as he realized he was probably watched the entire time he skated aimlessly around the rink. The brunet just wanted to clear his head and he hadn’t expected Levi to be here, watching him with genuine interest. The man he idolized for 80% of his life was watching him with interest and something else he couldn’t identify.

Oh god… How long has Levi been there? Eren became a little nervous and felt weak in his knees, but he managed to keep himself standing. He took a few calming breaths, switching off the music on his phone, and taking out his earbuds as he skates over to Levi. A shy smile crossed his features as he saw Levi flash him a rare but gorgeous smile. This man had to be Adonis or some shit...

“That was beautiful, Eren,” He complimented as Eren approached him. Eren’s hands rested on the ledge of the rink’s side wall and Levi’s hands, a little warmer than his own when Eren took off his gloves, touched his own. It seemed as though the man’s slender fingers lingered on his hands more than it should for a casual touch. The younger athlete repressed a shudder of desire at the small touch from the man who is currently his coach.

_ ‘It's just a friendly gesture,’ _ Eren kept telling himself, his body coming alive from the minute touch on his hands. He still can’t fathom why Levi even showed interest in him in the first place.

It wasn’t that Eren was unattractive or anything. If no one knew who he was right away, the twenty year old former college student was usually asked out by men and women. However, he knew Levi could obviously do better and there were hundreds of other skaters he could have coached. Yet Levi saw something in him that made him come all the way from France to Shiganshina. It was all so surreal.

“Why don’t I see that when you’re practicing?” Levi asked, bringing Eren out of his current train of thought.

“Don’t tell me it’s because you get nervous. I’ve seen how you are around people, Eren.”

“I think of my dad or what he would think if he watched me skate now. I could skate a good routine, save for a few close calls when I almost fall, and he would tell me everything I had done wrong. Not even giving me tips on how to fix my over rotating a triple axel or what I should do to make my step sequences better.” Eren sighed as he stepped off the ice, briefly thanking Levi for handing him his blade guards.

They took a seat on one of the benches closest to the door where Eren’s bag was sitting. While Eren wiped down his skates, he continued explaining his reason for his stunted skating from his early morning practice to Levi. It was the second warm up type of practice to show Levi what he could do and Eren felt like he fucked it up. He continued explaining to the older skater why he felt so…...restricted in a way.

“He would even bring you up every time because he knew I idolized you. Saying shit like, “Levi wouldn’t have trouble with the triple axel or the quad salchow. He would be disappointed if he saw you skate your free skate routine the way you did.” It lowered my morale rather than motivated me at the time because I thought I had disappointed you too.” Eren sighed. Now he was feeling stupid for telling Levi this. He figured this was a dumb reason to not skate in a way he wanted.

“What a shitty parent if he thought that was supposed to make you work harder.” Levi commented then added, “Everyone has a bad performance once in a while, Eren. You think I didn’t have those at some point?”

“No because you’re perfect and amazing.” Eren blurted out before he caught himself, his face and ears turning red. Levi raised an eyebrow at the boy’s admission.

“I’m far from perfect. Despite what you have seen on tv and shit, I’m an asshole. My coach is a bigger asshole, but he helped me get to where I am now. The parenting part, he sucked at.”

“I thought Kenny Ackerman was your uncle.”

“He is. He’s also the one who raised me. That’s what they don’t know. Him being my uncle is something the public already knew about. I don’t like divulging every aspect of my life to everyone.”

Eren blinked, surprised to know this bit of information about Levi. He wasn’t perfect? The brunet begged to differ when he witnessed the man perform what was supposed to be one of his routines for the upcoming figure skating season. Until Levi decided to coach him. Now Eren was going to skate one of Levi’s routines for his free skate. He’ll have to come up with some sort of music for his short program soon then put together a choreograph for it. There was so much to think about. He wondered if this was a dream he hasn’t woken up from yet.

“Now back to you. I doubt you’ll disappoint me with your skating. I’m not your dad, Eren. Your skating is impressive, especially your step sequences. I can see that now just as I saw that when you were seventeen. But you could use some work in places which is why I came here in the first place.”

“I know and I’m willing to learn.”

“Good. As I told you before, your physique is better than any skater I’ve seen despite your playing college student for three years.” Levi explained to Eren.

“But?” Eren inquired.

“You would get winded quickly if you don’t build your stamina and your free skate program is something you haven’t skated to before. It’s more intense as you’ve seen me demonstrate before.”

Eren nodded.

“So Eren, are you willing to go through the training?”

“Yeah, I am. I don’t care what it takes. I want to skate again, Levi.”

A smirk crossed Levi’s features and Eren almost wants to hide. Was Levi finding him too weird? He can’t tell what the older man was thinking at times.

“Then meet me here at 7am, Yeager. I want you to show me what I saw moments earlier. No thinking of you-know-who. No bullshit.”

“Okay, I will.” Eren promised.

When they shook hands, Eren was able to hide his physical reactions better when those slender fingers touched his hand again. The handshake was quick but it also promised of good things to come. He couldn’t wait. Levi said he was going to head back to Eren’s place and Eren quickly followed suit after he took off his skates and changed into his street clothes. They talked about things other than skating on the way home and it was actually a good conversation that lasted throughout dinner. Of course Mikasa wasn’t too pleased with Levi’s presence. Eren was sad it had to end since they had to part ways when it was time for bed.

As Eren stared out the window at the starry sky while in bed, he realized something. Tomorrow was the start of his comeback as a figure skater and for the first time in his life, Eren wasn’t dreading it. He was actually excited now that he has someone better than his father to lead him down a path guaranteed for success. Maybe there were other great things in store for him and Levi. He couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on twitter under @crystallinekai if you wish to chat with me~
> 
> Thanks for reading! ♥


End file.
